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Pitchfork TV and revered Seattle-based record label Light In The Attic (Last Poets, Lee Hazelwood, Jane Birkin, Black Angels, etc.) are in the midst of filming a 6 video road trip series that focuses on record stores between New York and Chicago. This documentary is set to hit Columbus on Saturday, October 19th with visits to Lost Weekend, RPM, Spoonful and Used Kids Records.
P4K and Light In the Attic’s visit comes on the heels of Used Kids Records 27th Anniversary, which was Saturday October 12th. This celebration of the Columbus music institution had performances by the Redbuds, Nom Tchotchke, Headtaker, Bloody Show, Second State Butchers, Dead Girlfriends, Pink Reason, The Ferals, and Nervosas.
I took the time before The Ferals performance to peruse and appreciate Used Kids’ eclectic and unique selection. You had new releases by the Connections, Danny Brown, Boldy James, the Raspberry Bulbs and RJD2. There were a plethora of used rock n roll vinyl recordings ranging from the obscure to classics from the Cramps and Led Zeppelin. Used Kids has a huge selection of soul and jazz records for beat diggers or just for people who just like to listen to soul and jazz. In addition to music staples, Used Kids also has plenty of random stock like an album from an early millenium Fresno hardcore band called Straight Edge Kegger; a 12 inch single of Black Supremacist Hip Hop group X-Clan’s classic “Fire and Ice” that cited Ohio Native Jeffrey Dahmer’s existence as a tangible example of the devilish nature of white people; Sex and the City available in it’s entirety on a DVD box set (spoiler Carrie cheats on Aiden with Big); and a pre-twerk Billy Ray Cyrus concert film on VHS.
The Feral’s played a wholesome matinee set of raunchy Rock N Roll while Used Kid’s patrons guzzled beer and belched after eating pizza.
When one thinks of the onset of streaming services, the death of the compact disc, and in general lack of need for people to actually pay for music it was lovely to see Used Kids Records and the underground culture that surrounds the shop located at 1980 N. High Street still standing.
Well, I work at reggae one-stop Roots Records on Mondays. We are not being visited by Light in The Attic but we did get some interesting traffic this week. Two Swedish men who turned out to be in the mysterious Satanic metal outfit Ghost B.C. came into the store. The men were not costumed and were extremely polite so I would have never guessed they were self-described “Nameless Ghouls.”
I queried why they had foreign accents that were not Jamaican Patois and the peachy dispositioned men said they were in town to perform at the Newport. It dawned on me Rock N Roll Culture’s current Satanic ambassadors were in town so I became excited that the usually blasphemous but anonymously dressed men were in front of me. It was like seeing a member of Kiss or Gwar out of costume. Ghost B.C. were kind of surprised I guessed who they were and offered to put me on the guestlist.
I asked the men about their allegiance to Lucifer and one of the “Nameless Ghouls” responded “We aren't that bad. We like reggae.”
After getting off work I went to Ghost B.C.’s Newport show, which was an euphoric exercise in pageantry as the taller of the ghouls stood adorned in corpse paint and a sacrilegious papal outfit and sang backed by layers of Heavy Metal guitars, synths and sometimes symphonic classical music.
I’m no devil worshiper but I can say the Ghost B.C. guys did make me feel warm and fuzzy with their cordial behavior and grandiose performance.
Friday, local dark-ebm lords, Funerals deejayed the Void which is a late night guerrilla party in a Vic Village porte-chochere. Like most guerilla parties, The Void party had to end when the police showed up and disagreed with the party being in a porte-chochere.
Saturday saw Oakland based alternative rap producer Jel play in front of 12 people at Double Happiness. Jel adeptly tapped out drum patterns and melodies on a MPC drum machine while telling jokes about odd topics like Anheuser Busch and finger-banging. Jel also inaccurately marginalized M.O.P.’s popularity in Columbus, randomly insulted 80’s Rock group Living Color and people who like rap from the city of Compton.
I am not sure where Jel’s problem with M.O.P., Living Color or Kendrick Lamar fans stems from.